St. Patrick's Parade mainstay goes it alone

The name Quinn is synonymous with the annual Worcester County St. Patrick's Parade. Ann and Leo Quinn co-chaired the parade committee for 27 years, until Mrs. Quinn died in May.

By Linda Bock TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — The name Quinn is synonymous with the annual Worcester County St. Patrick's Parade.

Ann and Leo Quinn co-chaired the parade committee for 27 years, until Mrs. Quinn died in May.

Mr. Quinn said his wife of 57 years was that special person he could depend on to help with all aspects of the annual Worcester County St. Patrick's Parade, including opening their family home to all sorts of parade-related activities throughout the years, attending countless fundraisers for the parade, and answering a million phone calls every year leading up to the big day.

"She was my left arm," Mr. Quinn said, choking back tears and emotion at the prospect of the first St. Patrick's parade without his wife. The longtime parade committee member and organizer explained that his wife was left-handed, as are five of their six children.

"I have to answer all the calls now," Mr. Quinn said.

Despite his loss, Mr. Quinn said all the parade committee's preparations and planning are done, the lineup is set, and he is ready for the parade to get going on Sunday. When asked what he was most looking forward to, Mr. Quinn answered, "To get it right, and to get it going down the street."

Mr. Quinn will be stationed at the beginning of the parade route at Mill Street and Park Avenue to direct traffic as he does every year, making sure that the floats and marching bands step off in a timely and correct order.

The 32nd annual Worcester County St. Patrick's Parade will step off at noon Sunday and feature some 7,000 marchers along the route on Park Avenue between Mill and Highland streets.

Right at the beginning of the parade on Sunday, the Quinn's six children will march and carry the Ann Quinn memorial banner. Grand marshals Paul V. and Helen T. Foley will directly follow.

Mr. Quinn said a lot of exciting groups will be in this year's parade, including some new ones.

The Worcester Bravehearts, the city's new baseball team, is one of the new entrants. The team will have a float decked out with artificial turf to resemble a baseball field. The team is a new entry in the amateur Futures League, which will open its inaugural season in June.

"If you want to make a splash in Worcester, there's no better place to do it," said Bravehearts general manager David Peterson of the popular annual parade. "People will get their first glimpse of what baseball will be all about in Worcester."

Mr. Quinn said he thinks the crowd will also really enjoy the Girls Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts' float this year, "When a Brownie Meets a Leprechaun."

The mayor of this year's parade is Brian Killelea, president of Worcester County Memorial Park in Paxton.

The St. Patrick's parade is an unofficial start to all the Irish celebrations this month: Corned beef and cabbage dinners, shamrock-shaped sugar cookies, and yes, even spring. As many as 80,000 people are expected to cheer a two-hour green stream of floats, bagpipers, marching bands, politicians and kids.

Many businesses along the parade route also get in on the fun by decorating, including Leitrims Pub at 265 Park Ave. The business won the parade committee's "Best Crowd" competition last year, and would love to win again this year, said Brittni Kirk, one of the owners.

"We're just so excited," Ms. Kirk said as she prepared to decorate the pub on Friday.

Ms. Kirk said preparations for parade day have been underway for months, including ordering extra supplies of special edition Bud Light in green aluminum bottles decorated with shamrocks and kegs of Guinness to toast the luck of the Irish.

"It's a really great day," Ms. Kirk said. "It's a really great day for the city of Worcester."

More than 2,000 people came through Leitrims at some point during parade day last year, according to Ms. Kirk. She said the pub will open at 11 Sunday morning, earlier than usual.

At the end of the day, Mr. Quinn said he plans to celebrate with his family as he has every year, with "a big party at Leo's house."

Did Mrs. Quinn always make corned beef and cabbage?

"She always made lasagna. Two kinds, one without meat. The funny part is that I don't even like lasagna," Mr. Quinn said. He said there are always plenty of occasions for corned beef and cabbage in March.

For more information, visit www.stpatsparade.com.

Contact Linda Bock at lbock@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindaBockTG.